DigiCom Marketing, LLC blogshttp://www.digicomnyc.com/blog
enNeed To Know - NFC Samsung TecTileshttp://www.digicomnyc.com/need-to-know-nfc-samsung-tectiles
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><h1>Need To Know - NFC Samsung TecTiles</h1><a href="http://www.samsung.com/us/microsite/tectile/" target="_BLANK"><img src="http://www.samsung.com/us/microsite/tectile/images/5.jpg" style="float:right; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px;" /></a>
<p>Samsung TecTiles are NFC (Near Field Communication) tags that are programable. NFC is the same technology that is used in building passes and credit cards that you tap to a reader rather than swipe. Certain mobile phones now how the reader part (rather than the card part) built into them. This allows for phones to be able to read and respond to NFC tags (like Samsung's TecTiles) using a reader app.</p>
<p>As I've written previously on <a href="http://digicomnyc.com/qr-codes-doing-it-wrong" target="_BLANK">QR Codes</a>, similar rules apply to NFC tags when designing campaign elements around NFC tags.</p>
<p>A few things NFC tags can be used for:</p>
<ul><li>Launching a mobile optimized website.</li>
<li>Quickly launching a YouTube video to give product demos/details.</li>
<li>Transferring contact details.</li>
<li>Pulling up maps of store locations nearby.</li>
</ul><p>While these benefits are tempting, there's an important piece of the puzzle that needs to be considered. An NFC enabled phone is needed to read the tags. This severely limits the audience for this technology. Currently, only certain Android devices from Samsung carry NFC capability. So you can forget about reaching iPhone and BlackBerry users with these tags.</p>
<p>Samsung TecTiles do provide marketers one more tool with which to quickly deliver information or experiential content via NFC enabled phones. Just remember that this is a small part of the smartphone market, and you might be better off using some other technology to reach your audience for now.</p></div></div></div>Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:10:32 +0000Ardin Marchetta29 at http://www.digicomnyc.comhttp://www.digicomnyc.com/need-to-know-nfc-samsung-tectiles#commentsOur Blades Are F**king Greathttp://www.digicomnyc.com/our-blades-are-fcking-great
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><div style="float:right; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px;"><iframe width="450" height="285" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZUG9qYTJMsI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
<h1>Our Blades Are F**king Great</h1>
<p><a href="http://www.dollarshaveclub.com" rel="nofollow" target="_BLANK">Dollar Shave Club</a> is a new company providing mail order razor blades delivered to your door every month starting at $1 per month (shipping and handling are extra). They're tearing up the internet right now because of their company video explaining the concept (over 2,700,000 views as of writing this). The video uses a mix of humorous visuals and mixed metaphors to highlight the idea that you're spending too much money on razor blades for no good reason. But more than being funny, the video gets across a the company's key marketing messages. Those key concepts are:</p>
<ul><li><strong>We're not just good, we're awesome!</strong> This concept has been coming back into vogue lately. It really started with the Old Spice "does your man smell like me?" campaign. It is something companies had shied away from, but that every company should keep in mind. You're not just good at what you do, you're the best at what you do. Dollar Shave Club celebrates this by stating, "are the any blades good? No, our blades are f**king great."</li>
<li><strong>Why pay for what you don't need?</strong> Most people don't need every feature crammed into a lot of products, so why buy what you don't really need? Dollar Shave Club reminds us that, "your handsome-ass grandfather had one blade, and Polio" so why should you need more than two blades and a lubricating strip (though the company also offers 4-blade and 6-blade razors which cost more than $1 a month).</li>
<li><strong>One less thing to remember.</strong> Dollar Shave Club's advantage over its competition is that they deliver a product that all other companies make you got to the store to buy. Dollar Shave Club tells you that you'll stop forgetting to buy your razor blades every month because they automatically ship them to you.</li></ul><p>What Dollar Shave Club's viral video proves is that your audience will respond if you address their concerns, while at the same time highlighting what sets you appart from your competition. Even though we can't all create viral videos, you can make sure that your video will have the desired impact on your target market by following Dollar Shave Club's example.</p></div></div></div>Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:04:05 +0000Ardin Marchetta26 at http://www.digicomnyc.comhttp://www.digicomnyc.com/our-blades-are-fcking-great#commentsTic Tac Mobile Integration Falls Shorthttp://www.digicomnyc.com/tic-tac-mobile-integration-falls-short
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><img src="http://digicomnyc.com/sites/default/files/tic-tac.jpg" width="400" height="296" alt="Tic Tac Mobile" title="Tic Tac Mobile" style="float:right; margin-left:20px; margin-bottom:20px;" /><h1>Tic Tac Mobile Integration</h1>
<p>Augmented reality is becoming one of the hot new ways to grab consumers' attention via mobile integrated digital marketing campaigns. The technology gets better every day, but there are still some hurdles to overcome before it is widely adopted by consumers. One mobile integrated digital marketing campaign I recently saw on a subway platform involved Tic Tac. While I was excited to see how they used augmented reality in their marketing strategy, I was dismayed at how they decided to execute. Here are a couple of the ways in which the campaign fell short:</p>
<ul><li><strong>Calls to action in subways:</strong> In New York City (and most other subway lines in the United States) cellphone reception (and data connections) are non-existent. Tic Tac's billboard ads in the subway are wasted because they require me to text an SMS short code a keyword in order to download the augmented reality application. Seeing as I don't have reception in the subway, the odds that I actually download the application are slim-to-none.</li>
<li><strong>Launching before launching:</strong> Once I was out of the subway and had signal again, I texted the SMS short code and the keyword required to download the application. I received a message saying that the application wouldn't be ready until 2/6/2012 (I saw the advertisement on 2/2/2012). The SMS asked that I re-text the short code and the keyword again <em>after</em> 2/6/2012 in order to download the application. The average consumer won't follow this instruction seeing as they were unable to download it the first time.</li>
</ul><p>While I'm looking forward to downloading and trying the Tic Tac Viewer application, I'm not thrilled by their execution. Remember, digital marketing isn't just about having the slickest application. It is about understanding the context in which people are interacting with your digital channel, and how your traditional channels will engage your audience to participate.</p></div></div></div>Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:22:38 +0000Ardin Marchetta24 at http://www.digicomnyc.comhttp://www.digicomnyc.com/tic-tac-mobile-integration-falls-short#commentsDigital Marketing And Online Video Creationhttp://www.digicomnyc.com/digital-marketing-and-online-video-creation
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><div style="float:right; margin-left:20px; margin-bottom:20px;"><img src="http://www.sxc.hu/pic/l/h/hi/hisks/992500_85363431.jpg" height="200" /></div>
<h1>Digital Marketing And Online Video Creation</h1>
<p>Digital marketing lends itself towards rich media content. Rich media content can be anything from graphics to animation, audio to video. If your digital marketing strategy includes video, the return on investment has to be high if you are going to make it a regular piece of content. Video can be costly and typically requires a large time to be invested, so making it pay off is crucial. Here are some keys to success when generating your online video for your digital marketing campaign.</p>
<ul><li><strong>Remember the basics from public speaking:</strong> tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them. People remember things once they've heard them three times. If you stick to this format, something is bound to stick in your audience's heads.</li>
<li><strong>Keep it short:</strong> people's attention spans online are fleeting. If you can't get your video down to under 2 minutes, think about creating a series of videos instead. Each video should tease the audience into wanting to watch the next video in the series.</li>
<li><strong>Make it share-able:</strong> you never know whom you might reach. Just like with word-of-mouth, online video can spread. If your video can be easily shared, people will be more likely to send it to someone they know who could use your product/service.</li>
<li><strong>Tell them how to get a hold of you:</strong> if your company's contact information isn't at the end of the video, you may lose a potential customer or client. People online want the information given to them, don't count on them to do a Google search to find you after watching the video (remember, they might not be watching it on your site).</li>
<li><strong>Make the content useful:</strong> a video on your company or a product is great, but make sure there's an ah-ha factor. What's the value proposition, why should I contact you <em>today</em>? Answering this question will help viewers to make the connection between the video and their unmet need.</li>
</ul><p>Following these guidelines will help your video have the desired impact on your audience. By repeating your message, telling people how to reach you, and allowing people to share your video you can lay the groundwork for your video to achieve online success. Remember, video is just one piece of the digital marketing strategy, but it can go a long way towards putting your best foot forward (especially with a new audience).</p></div></div></div>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:53:39 +0000Ardin Marchetta22 at http://www.digicomnyc.comhttp://www.digicomnyc.com/digital-marketing-and-online-video-creation#commentsIs Your Ad Campaign Worth It?http://www.digicomnyc.com/is-your-ad-campaign-worth-it
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><img src="http://www.sxc.hu/pic/l/v/vi/vikush/1097140_19307776.jpg" height="200" style="float:right; margin-left:20px; margin-bottom:20px;" /><h1>Is Your Ad Campaign Worth It?</h1>
<p>Online advertising can be an expensive proposition. Even after you figure out where you want to advertise, finding how much it is going to cost and the expected return can be unnerving. Here are some ways you can check to make sure your online ad campaign is living up to expectations:</p>
<ul><li>Put a system in place for independent verification of traffic. Some advertisers will track the number of clickthroughs your ad receives. But always have your own system in place for determining the exact number of visitors an ad generates.</li>
<li>Get a report of total impressions served per month. Use this report in combination with your clickthrough measurements to determine the rate at which people respond to your ad (clicks/impressions).</li>
<li>Use the clickthrough rate (clicks over impressions) to calculate the cost/visitor (this is equal to (clicks/impressions)*(cost per thousand impressions * 1,000))</li>
<li>Use the cost per visitor result to figure out the necessary break even point for the ad campaign (number of sales or new clients needed to pay for the campaign).</li></ul><p>You can use the calculations above to start to understand the relationship between campaign cost, audience size, traffic generated, and conversions that make an online ad profitable. We've created this <a href="http://digicomnyc.com/calculator"><strong>calculator</strong></a> to help illustrate how these calculations impact your bottom line: <a href="http://digicomnyc.com/calculator"><strong>Calculator</strong></a></p></div></div></div>Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:27:57 +0000Ardin Marchetta20 at http://www.digicomnyc.comhttp://www.digicomnyc.com/is-your-ad-campaign-worth-it#commentsChecklist For Quick Mobile Contenthttp://www.digicomnyc.com/checklist-for-quick-mobile-content
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><div style="float:right; margin-left:20px; margin-bottom:20px;"><img src="http://www.sxc.hu/pic/l/j/jw/jwmpap/504653_27926151.jpg" height="200" /></div>
<h1>Checklist For Quick Mobile Content</h1>
<p>Mobile web browsing is becoming a bigger trend for smartphone users. As the mobile channel continues to open up to businesses, developing a mobile optimized website is something a lot of companies are considering. But this can be an expensive endeavor. Creating a mobile optimized landing page can be an inexpensive first step toward testing a mobile website's viability. But when developing content for the mobile web there are some things to remember:</p>
<ul><li>Real estate on mobile is a premium, so make sure every pixel counts. You'll need to strike a balance between readability and compactness.</li>
<li>Don't bury the lead. Make sure the content with the most impact and persuasive argument is at the top of the page rather than at the bottom. Remember, most visitors won't read down to the bottom of a page (even if it all fits on one screen).</li>
<li>Pictures are great ways of engaging visitors and conveying ideas, but make sure you do it right. Keep image file sizes small to make sure they load quickly. And make sure they're balanced against the other content on the page. They should be big enough to be seen, but not so big that they can't be adsorbed with a single look.</li>
<li>Don't forget a call to action. Informative content is great, but if your visitor isn't told what to do next, they won't do it.</li>
<li>Keep URLs short. It's a pain typing URLs into mobile browsers, so try using a URL shortening service to make things easy for visitors.</li></ul><p>If you develop an effective mobile landing page, it can go a long way toward showing stakeholders the potential value of making your company's entire website mobile friendly. Conversely, if it doesn't work out, you can either continue testing or kill the project without taking a large hit to your marketing budget (and without sapping resources).</p></div></div></div>Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:25:01 +0000Ardin Marchetta19 at http://www.digicomnyc.comhttp://www.digicomnyc.com/checklist-for-quick-mobile-content#comments5 Questions To Ask Before Blogginghttp://www.digicomnyc.com/5-questions-to-ask-before-blogging
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><img src="http://www.sxc.hu/pic/l/h/hi/hisks/1157698_11228022.jpg" height="200px" style="float:right; margin-left:20px; margin-bottom:20px;" /><h1>5 Questions To Ask Before Blogging</h1>
<p>Blogging can be a great benefit to your company. On today's Internet, content is king. Google likes sites that update regularly and ups their ranking based on freshness of content. But there are key questions you need to ask before starting a company blog in order to make sure it isn't a flop. Here are 5 questions to ask before starting your company blog:</p>
<ol><li><strong>What's your focus?</strong> Are you a going to be a thought leader, content aggregator, industry insider, or some other form of blog? The type of content you provide will determine the type of audience you reach.</li>
<li><strong>What's your goal?</strong> Is your goal to attract new clients, retain customers, or attract media attention? Understanding the goal of the blog helps to focus the writers on developing content that accomplishes that goal.</li>
<li><strong>Who's going to own it?</strong> Who makes sure the blog is being updated with new posts? Who responds to press inquiries? Who decides what gets written when? Establishing ownership ensures that there isn't a lot of finger-pointing and that the blog stays up and running.</li>
<li><strong>How do we get the word out?</strong> Will there be a featured post on the homepage of the website? Do we include a call-out in our email signature? Should we pay for a banner ad somewhere? Developing a promotion plan will allow you to drive the initial traffic to the blog to help make it a success.</li>
<li><strong>Should it stand alone?</strong> Do we give the blog its own URL and branding? Should this be part of the company website? Knowing this will help in the development stage of the blog. The implications for each scenario impact a lot of things when it comes to your brand on the web.</li></ol><p>These 5 questions will help you to form the foundation for a blog. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive list, just a way to start the discussion on having a company blog. Remember, this is going to impact your digital marketing strategy at every level, so knowing how the blog works on its own will help you to figure out how it fits into the bigger picture. With a lot of planning up front, you can ensure that your blog will be a worthwhile investment in time and resources, instead of a drain.</p></div></div></div>Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:36:10 +0000Ardin Marchetta18 at http://www.digicomnyc.comhttp://www.digicomnyc.com/5-questions-to-ask-before-blogging#commentsBenefits Of YouTube For Web Videohttp://www.digicomnyc.com/benefits-of-youtube-for-web-video
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><img src="http://digicomnyc.com/sites/default/files/youtube_logo_standard_againstwhite.png" height="100" alt="" title="" style="float:right; margin-bottom:20px; margin-left:20px;" /><h1>Benefits Of YouTube For Web Video</h1>
<p>Online video has become a powerful tool for companies to get their marketing message across to their customers and clients. Unfortunately, when it comes to distribution, many companies are unsure of where to post their content. In the end, fear (not strategy) often determines where and how video is distributed. Here are some reasons to consider <a href="http://www.youtube.com" rel="nofollow" target="_BLANK">YouTube</a> as a place to start when thinking about distributing web video:</p>
<ul><li><strong>Easy uploading, sharing, embedding, and optimization:</strong> YouTube is number one in web video for a reason. Utilizing their video platform allows you to quickly upload your video content, reach a wide (or narrow) audience, embed it into your website, and make your content searchable across the web.</li>
<li><strong>Compatibility issues solved:</strong> Publishing your content on YouTube solves a major issue companies have when putting video on their website, compatibility. Depending on browser and device, YouTube will automatically deliver your content in a format that optimizes the visitor's viewing experience. This is especially important if viewers are coming from an iPhone or iPad on which Flash video won't play. YouTube will serve an HTML5 compatible version of your content so it will load and play properly on these devices.</li>
<li><strong>Have your video be discovered:</strong> If you take full advantage of YouTube's <em>title</em>, <em>description</em>, and <em>tags</em> fields, Google will index your video for search on google.com. This will help drive more traffic to your video should you be looking for exposure.</li>
<li><strong>Comment fears:</strong> YouTube allows you to turn off the comments section of videos you post on its site. This addresses what was the biggest fear expressed by businesses when considering placing their videos online; that people would post negative comments about their company/brand on the video page.</li>
<li><strong>Social sharing:</strong> Should you want to share your video on social sites like Facebook, simply copying and pasting the link to the video (on YouTube) will pull a video player into your update, allowing visitors to play your video without leaving your profile.</li>
</ul><p>While YouTube isn't right as a publishing platform for every company, it is a powerful tool for you to consider when thinking about distributing your video content on the web. Considering how easy it is to publish and share your content, it's a great place to start when thinking about how you're going to distribute your content on the web. And if SEO is part of your marketing budget, a video on YouTube can be a useful way to bump your company up in the results page on Google.</p></div></div></div>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:15:05 +0000Ardin Marchetta17 at http://www.digicomnyc.comhttp://www.digicomnyc.com/benefits-of-youtube-for-web-video#commentsOffline Interaction To Online Goldhttp://www.digicomnyc.com/offline-interaction-to-online-gold
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><div style="float:right; margin-left:20px; margin-bottom:40px;"><img src="http://www.sxc.hu/pic/l/w/wa/wagg66/37056_4781.jpg" height="200" /></div>
<h1>Offline Interaction To Online Gold</h1>
<p>Time spent offline with clients and customers can provide valuable insights into how you should engage with them online. Trade shows, client meetings, conference calls and cocktail parties can provide you with the ammunition you need to help your online campaigns deepen existing business relationships and develop new ones. Here are some ideas to help you gather the information you'll need to kick your campaigns into high gear:</p>
<ul><li>Create a script for your company representatives at trade shows. Have them use it when clients and customers stop by the booth (or even for when just walking the floor). In addition to recording the comments, make sure they make note of the sentiment of each interaction. Was the client or customer happy, angry, frustrated, or indifferent during the exchange. Ask the question, "what could we do better?" even if the person seemed satisfied with the product or service.</li>
<li>Another good trade show idea is to provide survey cards at your table with a chance to win a drawing if passers by fill one out. If you want the surveys to remain anonymous, have them drop a business card in a bowl for the drawing after they complete the survey so they can leave their name off of it. Make sure the questions aren't about your company and are more about marketing channel usage and engagement so people will answer honestly.</li>
<li>Ask current clients and customers if they would take a quick (5 multiple choice questions or 3 free response questions) survey after a call. The survey can be sent in an email (there are plenty of online tools to generate these surveys). Once they complete the survey, read it and write back on how you'll work to improve in the areas they highlight as problematic. If customers feel that they are being heard they will be more likely to give you feedback in the future.</li>
<li>At cocktail parties try to ask simple questions that will elicit detailed responses. Cocktail parties are a good place to find out what the competition is doing — right and wrong — that you can capitalize on. "What do you think about company XYZ's website?" followed up with "Did you see their widget on the homepage? Did you use it?" You'll tend to get frank and honest answers; especially once the drinks start flowing.</li></ul><p>After compiling the information you get through methods like the ones above, apply what you've learned to your existing and future digital marketing campaigns. Fixing current campaigns will not only relieve frustration, but it will tell clients and customers that you're willing to listen to them and act on their feedback. Granted, not every criticism is going to be worth correcting, but you'll be surprised at the innovations and new ideas they spark.</p>
<p>No campaign is ever perfect, and client and customer relationships can always be improved and deepened. By listening to them offline you can help improve your relationship with clients and customers online, which can lead to improving the bottom line.</p></div></div></div>Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:09:53 +0000Ardin Marchetta16 at http://www.digicomnyc.comhttp://www.digicomnyc.com/offline-interaction-to-online-gold#commentsTop 5 Digital Marketing Mistakeshttp://www.digicomnyc.com/top-5-digital-marketing-mistakes
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><div style="float:right; margin-left:20px;"><img src="http://www.sxc.hu/pic/l/c/ch/channah/815492_30356691.jpg" height="250" /></div>
<h1>Top 5 Digital Marketing Mistakes</h1>
<p>There are certain growing pains associated with digital marketing. Is the budget too small/large? Which channels are going to provide the best results? How can I show the value of this program? But the mistakes listed below tend to quickly cause digital marketing initiative to face the axe when things go wrong. Here are the top five digital marketing blunders to avoid:</p>
<ol><li><strong>Did I leave the stove on?</strong> Automated campaign tools like Google AdWords can be your ace in the hole when it comes to making campaign management easy. But if you forget to mind the store, automated campaigns can quickly disintegrate. Budgets can be blown, optimization can fall apart, and performance can take a nosedive.</li>
<li><strong>Fire, Ready, Aim!</strong> Jumping into digital marketing by executing before planning can put you into hot water quickly. We're all guilty of pushing out the occasional "so-and-so wants this yesterday!" project, but without careful planning these can be costly debacles. Technical glitches, vendor issues, and blown budgets are on the horizon if you're lacking a road-map from idea to execution.</li>
<li><strong>What was the point of this again?</strong> You've executed! The latest campaign went off without a hitch, you came in at or under budget, and everyone feels good about a job well done... but there's a nagging question left hanging over your head. Was the campaign successful? Sure the project was a technical success, but did it drive dollars into the company? In all the planning, everone forgot to determine what the measures for success were, and now that the campaign has executed it's too late to fix it.</li>
<li><strong>What do you mean it's broken?!</strong> Testing, testing and more testing. This typically gets overlooked when a vendor handles the technical side of a campaign and no one in-house has the technical knowledge of what problems to look for in a campaign of type XYZ. For example, if your campaign relies on people accessing something via iPhone, somebody with an iPhone had better be testing it before launch, during launch, and over the course of the campaign to make sure everything is working.</li>
<li><strong>What do you mean we couldn't do that?!</strong> This is a new one, but an important one... violating the terms and conditions of social media channels. You created a great YouTube video, put it up, and within a day got an email from YouTube (which you thought was spam) that you're in violation of their terms and conditions. Your video has been taken down and you're scratching your head as to what went wrong. YouTube (especially) and some other social media channels are cracking down on copyright violations. This can include the song playing in the background of the video (even if the song was playing on the radio while you were recording a candid video). Be sure to read the fine print before scripting any content you're going to share on a social platform.</li></ol><p>There are many other potential pitfalls when it comes to digital marketing, but these five tend to be the big ones. Keeping these in mind when beginning your digital marketing campaigns and plans should help cut down on the headaches that can occur when tracking multiple moving parts in the digital marketing machine.</p></div></div></div>Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:30:34 +0000Ardin Marchetta15 at http://www.digicomnyc.comhttp://www.digicomnyc.com/top-5-digital-marketing-mistakes#comments